Readme File for Windows Media Player 7 PowerToys

July 2000

The Windows Media Player 7 PowerToys, including the documentation and information provided, if any, are for your personal use and are subject to the terms and conditions of the end user license agreement presented during the Microsoft« Windows MediaÖ Player 7 PowerToys installation process.

This document provides installation and usage information about Microsoft Windows Media Player 7 PowerToys.

Contents

Minimum system requirements

Welcome to PowerToys

Overview

Deluxe CD Data Converter

Most Recently Used Cleaner

PowerToys skin

How to uninstall PowerToys

Legal notice

Minimum system requirements

The hardware and software requirements for Windows Media Player 7 PowerToys are the same as those for Windows Media Player 7.

Welcome to PowerToys

Overview

This collection of PowerToys provides enhancements to Windows Media Player 7. The three included PowerToysùDeluxe CD Data Converter, Most Recently Used Cleaner, and the PowerToys skinùenable advanced users to manage their Windows Media Player media libraries more effectively, to import track information collected by Deluxe CD Player or Microsoft CD Player into the Windows Media Player database, and to clear the Windows Media Player most recently used file list.

Note   The PowerToy components are not supported by Microsoft Corporation.

Deluxe CD Data Converter

Like Windows Media Player 7, the Deluxe CD Player in Microsoft Plus! 98 (the Plus! pack for Windows« 98) and the Microsoft CD Player in Windows 2000 can identify tracks by song name, artist name, album name, and other characteristics. This information is stored in a local database, which you can edit. If you have downloaded or edited information for a large number of tracks using Deluxe CD Player or Microsoft CD Player and you would like to import that data into the Windows Media Player 7 Media Library database, you can use the Deluxe CD Data Converter PowerToy to automate the conversion and import process.

To import Deluxe CD Player track information:

  1. Open a command window.

  2. At the command prompt, if necessary, change to the drive that contains the Program Files folder. For example, type C: and press ENTER if the Program Files folder is on your C: drive.

  3. Type cd "\Program Files\Windows Media 7 PowerToys\Player" and then press ENTER.

  4. Type dbimport and then press ENTER.

  5. When prompted, click Yes to continue.

    When the converter finishes, information about what data was imported appears in the command window.

  6. To close the command window, type exit at the command prompt and then press ENTER.

Tip   You can also run Deluxe CD Data Converter by double-clicking the dbimport.exe file. No confirmation information appears, however, because the command window closes when Deluxe CD Data Converter finishes running.

You can use Deluxe CD Data Converter as many times as you want. Deluxe CD Data Converter does not overwrite or delete any data that already exists in the Windows Media Player Media Library database. Therefore, if you have ever played a CD in Windows Media Player 7 and downloaded or edited information about it, that information will not be altered.

Most Recently Used Cleaner

Windows Media Player 7 keeps track of the media files you open. It lists the names of the most recently used items in the Recent File List on the File menu. You can use the Most Recently Used Cleaner PowerToy to clear this list as frequently as you want.

To clear the Recent File List:

  1. Quit Windows Media Player 7.

  2. Double-click the ClearMRU.exe file.

    Most Recently Used Cleaner clears the Recent File List.

PowerToys skin

The PowerToys skin enables you to manage your Windows Media Player 7 Media Library in a variety of ways. The skin includes seven playlist management functions:

PowerToys skin playlist management functions

Function Description
Turn all albums in the library into playlists Creates a playlist for every album in your Media Library.
Make a playlist for every Artist listed in the library Creates a playlist for every artist in your Media Library.
Place all content in random playlists of 70 minutes (for Copy to CD) Creates one or more playlists using all of the files in your Media Library. Each playlist contains up to 70 minutes of material. The files are randomly assigned to the new playlists; however, no file is assigned to more than one playlist. This function is useful when creating your own CDs.
Place all content in ordered playlists of 12 songs (for Copy to CD) Creates one or more playlists using all of the files in your Media Library. Each playlist contains up to 12 files. The files are assigned to the new playlists in order of their Media Library creation date. This function is useful when creating your own CDs.
Place all content in ordered playlists of 70 minutes (for Copy to CD) Creates one or more playlists using all of the files in your Media Library. Each playlist contains up to 70 minutes of material. The files are assigned to the new playlists in order of their Media Library creation date. This function is useful when creating your own CDs.
Clear all playlists from library Clears all playlists from your Media Library.

Note   You cannot restore your playlists once they have been cleared.

Place current playlist in random playlists of 70 minutes (for Copy to CD) Creates one or more playlists based upon the currently playing playlist. Each new playlist contains up to 70 minutes of material. The files are randomly assigned to the new playlists; however, no file is assigned to more than one playlist. This function is useful when creating your own CDs.

To use the PowerToys skin:

  1. In Windows Media Player full mode, click the Skin Chooser feature.

  2. In the list of skins, select the PowerToys skin, and then click Apply Skin.

  3. To use a function, click on a function name.

    The word "processing" appears before the function name until the function is completed. Processing time is dependent upon the size of your Media Library and the complexity of the function. Complex functions, such as Place all content in ordered playlists of 70 minutes, may take quite some time to complete.

To function properly, the PowerToys skin must be able to read from and write to the Windows Media Player Media Library. If the PowerToys skin displays a message that it cannot access your Media Library, perform the following procedure.

To set Media Library access rights:

  1. On the Tools menu, click Options, and then click the Media Library tab.

  2. Under Other application access rights, click Full access, and then click OK.

    Note   All installed skins will be able to read from and write to your Media Library.

How to uninstall PowerToys

To uninstall the Windows Media Player 7 PowerToys, either delete the program files or delete the folder where the program files exist.

To uninstall the PowerToys skin, perform the following procedure.

To delete the PowerToys skin:

  1. In Windows Media Player full mode, click the Skin Chooser feature.

  2. In the list of skins, select the PowerToys skin, and then click the Delete button.

Legal notice

Information in this document, including URL and other Internet Web site references, is subject to change without notice. Unless otherwise noted, the example companies, organizations, products, people, and events depicted herein are fictitious and no association with any real company, organization, product, person, or event is intended or should be inferred. Complying with all applicable copyright laws is the responsibility of the user. Without limiting the rights under copyright, no part of this document may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise), or for any purpose, without the express written permission of Microsoft Corporation.

Microsoft may have patents, patent applications, trademarks, copyrights, or other intellectual property rights covering subject matter in this document. Except as expressly provided in any written license agreement from Microsoft, the furnishing of this document does not give you any license to these patents, trademarks, copyrights, or other intellectual property.

Copyright ⌐ 2000 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

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This software is based in part on the work of the Independent JPEG Group.